Cosmic Rock (2008)

Full disclaimer: I wasn't a huge Planes Mistaken for Stars fan. I've only heard a song here and there and honestly, nothing about them really grabbed me. And yeah, I know, it takes a lot of time and patience to appreciate and 'get' a band as complex as Planes, but my heart was just never in it for w...Login to Rate

Full disclaimer: I wasn't a huge Planes Mistaken for Stars fan. I've only heard a song here and there and honestly, nothing about them really grabbed me. And yeah, I know, it takes a lot of time and patience to appreciate and 'get' a band as complex as Planes, but my heart was just never in it for whatever reason. Thus, my comparisons in this review could be way off-base. Sorry.

All right, now that that's out in the open, let's forget the past and talk about the present. Namely, this new record from Git Some, a band that happens to feature Neil M. Keener and Chuck Fresh, formerly of PMFS. What are the similiarities between the two bands, you might ask? Well, they both rock, but in completely different ways; while Planes tweaked their sound a bit from record to record, it could overall best be pigeonholed as emotional post-hardcore. On the other side of the coin, Git Some is little more than a back-to-basics, dirty punk rock act, and on their debut Cosmic Rock, they pull it off rather well.

That's not to say there's a liberal sprinkling of different post-hardcore and even metal influence throughout the record; one listen to the the throaty yells and visceral instrumentation that adorn opener "Glowing Shadows" ought to confirm that there's more going on here than meets the eye. Not to mention the raw, bass-heavy "Nice Suit" and the sludgy, just plain ol' heavy "That's Just Eczema."

And the riffs! Tasty riffs are everywhere on Cosmic Rock. Said riffs help create an urgent feel in "Trixy Loves Misty," cause the listener to involuntarily throw up some devil horns in "Chainsaw Clothesline" and in "Falling from Grace" compose some lixxx that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Fucked Up's Hidden World. That's barely the half of it, though; just about each song on Cosmic Rock features a riff that will make you think, "I wish I could play that." Or in this reviewer's case, "I wish I could play anything."

The drumming here is impressive as well, and despite the raw production, every glorious, rolling fill is able to be heard. In fact, Cosmic Rock is the first record I've heard in a while where 'raw' production is done right; every instrument and nuance here is perfectly audible, but there's no sense that everything was wiped down with a squeegee before handing the master tapes over to the pressing plants. Thank goodness.

There are a few noticeable curveballs here, however. The brief, discordant "Buckle Up!" is all right enough, but doesn't seem to fit in well with the rest of the record. The band goes slightly off-time in the chaotic "Fabric Eyes" (the guitar work, especially) and there's a neat, slightly mathy drum fill in the aforementioned "Glowing Shadows," but it's all done well and in moderation, so no complaints.

It goes without saying that Git Some won't please every fan dearly missing PMFS (those fans may also want to check out Planes vocalist Gared O'Donnell's new project, Hawks and Doves), but Cosmic Rock is a fine debut nonetheless and one serious force of a rock record.